It was a great day today, don’t misunderstand. I’m just freaking exhausted at the moment.

Today was the Heinichen family Christmas, started at 8pm in the evening because we decided to eat dinner first and then do the dishes (I credit Liz’s influence for that, that little genius). But before that, the Ho and I went on two great walks with the Coops; together in the morning and we toured the major features of the fairgrounds, and then with my brother Seth in the evening.

We also went out to centerville beach for a nice long walk with Scott, Addie and my mom. Didn’t bring the Coops because we knew he’d get absolutely filthy. And that was awesome, the walk. It wasn’t hardly windy at all, the sun peeked out from the fog bank every so often, and the water was a *gorgeous* shade of green and blue with these huge breakers that Scott thought were 8 or nine foot swells. It was beautiful.

Then, we did Valley Grocery sandwiches that we ate at home, mine was a pastrami. And then, it was off again to Fortuna to run errands with everyone. Walgreens for allergy meds, Starbucks for mom’s coffee grounds, then to Safeway where we stocked up on some supplies for the next couple days and fixings for dinner.

And there we are…back to Christmas part II.

My family does Christmas in a pretty unique way. I’ve heard of other families doing their gifts one at a time, but never of anyone else using a number system. Ya, that’s right, a number system. It was instituted when we were young, because whomever was picking a present out at the time wouldn’t know *who* the present belonged to until they picked it up and my mom or dad would check their master list and announce who it belonged to. Then, we’d all watch and ooh and ahh once they’d opened it, and we were on to the next person. The result is a 3-hour or so affair of presents, complete with misplaced numbers and presents assigned to the wrong people, and mostly genuine interest and admiration for each and every gift given, no matter how big or small. It’s one of those heartwarming traditions my family shares that I’d want to continue.

It’s also interesting to me how the gift giving has changed over the years, especially recently. With none of us boys living at home any more, and with us all finding jobs and making a little more money, the parents have definitely started to fall to the wayside and us boys have begun to contribute more and more each year. That was very evident this year, as the parents made out like bandits. Which is *exactly* as it should be. They spoiled us for so many years, it’s extremely gratifying to start returning the favor. I feel so old to say it, but it really is starting to become more enjoyable to give gifts than it is to receive them. Not even *starting* to become more enjoyable, it *is* more enjoyable. I pretty much have the stuff I need now. The joy is finding something someone else needs and fulfilling that.

That brings us now to the tired part of the story. We didn’t finish opening till 11pm, and now that I’m sitting here typing this, I’m realizing I actually had a pretty freaking packed day. So ya…I’m tired. Tired and happy. It was a wonderful Heinichen Christmas.